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13th
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NASCAR's reigning champion, Brad Keselowski; (135.922mph) led eight drivers under the track record set by Ryan Newman (135.232mph), two years ago, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson had turned a lap of 135.902mph but his time was disqualified due to his car failing post-qualifying inspection for being too low. He'll start 43rd.
Notwithstanding how much work Johnson will do, Keselowski's job will be even bigger as he struggles to make the Chase with eight races remaining.
Johnson has a commanding lead of 49 points, while Keselowski stands 13th and 11 points outside of tenth place which would lock him into the Chase. Of course he might get in with a Wild Card, but first, he'd have to get a victory.
Keselowski, when asked the mood of the team, said “there is a sense of urgency but not a sense of panic. I think there is a strong difference between the two. We are eager to get going, we are hungry and feel like we can do it but I don't feel as sense of panic.
“There are still two months of racing essentially to get into the Chase. We have fast race cars and if we do our part we don't need any help. If we do our part we don't even need any luck. We just need to do our jobs and I feel like we have got the team to do just that.”
But Johnson was feeling the pressure even before qualifying. “We had two small issues one with the side skirt height missed it by a sixteenth of an inch. Then I think a pound of weight was missing or wasn't right on the right-side weight. We had to go through twice and that is usually big trouble for teams. We were able to get it done quickly and get out just in time.
“With all that being said it just added a lot of stress to my qualifying lap,” he said.
Knaus came to the media center to explain why Johnson's car failed the first time stating it was a mis-assembly problem “it was all our fault. We knew something just wasn't right.” And because of playing catch up the car settled down after qualifying.
As a result of the disqualification Kurt Busch will roll off in second place.
The second row will consist of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.
Seventy-one year-old Morgan Shepherd, who earned a starting spot based on owner points, becomes the oldest driver to start a Sprint Cup race.
Jimmie Johnson had turned a lap of 135.902mph but his time was disqualified due to his car failing post-qualifying inspection for being too low. He'll start 43rd.
Notwithstanding how much work Johnson will do, Keselowski's job will be even bigger as he struggles to make the Chase with eight races remaining.
 |
| Brad Keselowski. (Photo: René Fagnan) |
Johnson has a commanding lead of 49 points, while Keselowski stands 13th and 11 points outside of tenth place which would lock him into the Chase. Of course he might get in with a Wild Card, but first, he'd have to get a victory.
Keselowski, when asked the mood of the team, said “there is a sense of urgency but not a sense of panic. I think there is a strong difference between the two. We are eager to get going, we are hungry and feel like we can do it but I don't feel as sense of panic.
“There are still two months of racing essentially to get into the Chase. We have fast race cars and if we do our part we don't need any help. If we do our part we don't even need any luck. We just need to do our jobs and I feel like we have got the team to do just that.”
 |
| Jimmie Johnson. (Photo: René Fagnan) |
But Johnson was feeling the pressure even before qualifying. “We had two small issues one with the side skirt height missed it by a sixteenth of an inch. Then I think a pound of weight was missing or wasn't right on the right-side weight. We had to go through twice and that is usually big trouble for teams. We were able to get it done quickly and get out just in time.
“With all that being said it just added a lot of stress to my qualifying lap,” he said.
Knaus came to the media center to explain why Johnson's car failed the first time stating it was a mis-assembly problem “it was all our fault. We knew something just wasn't right.” And because of playing catch up the car settled down after qualifying.
 |
| Kurt Busch. (Photo: René Fagnan) |
As a result of the disqualification Kurt Busch will roll off in second place.
The second row will consist of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.
Seventy-one year-old Morgan Shepherd, who earned a starting spot based on owner points, becomes the oldest driver to start a Sprint Cup race.
 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Photo: René Fagnan) |